Monday, April 7, 2008

It’s Monday night not Sunday; I’m not sure why the blog is one day behind. We spent three wonderful hours with Baby Alex this morning. He is doing great and was all smiles shortly after he was dropped off by the caretakers. I wondered if he remembered us, or if he was too sleepy to worry about the two strangers in the room. I’d would like to think he knew exactly who we were and was probably thinking ‘where the heck were you two for the past ten weeks’!!!This time the caretaker was not holding him when she came into the play room…he was walking with her help and it was so adorable. He even took a couple of steps by himself! I don’t think he has grown much in the last ten weeks, but he is definitely more aware of his surroundings, wants to grab all the toys around and really enjoyed playing catch with his daddy. We were also able to feed him his lunch which actually looked pretty good. They brought a tray to us with quite a bit of food and juice and he ate most of it. I brought some juice, cheerios and crackers and was told later that was a No-No…, so I won’t be doing that tomorrow, even though he loved them. Last time we were here we asked and they said it was okay; we were not sure why the rules changed but…Oh Well!!!The caretakers at the orphanage were wonderful to him and to us. One of them kept talking to us in Russian and for some reason she thought we understood everything she was saying, or thought we should. They came to the room to check on Alex about every thirty minutes, and later told Roma that they were really happy to see him with his new family. I can’t ask for enough blessings for these wonderful women at the baby house. They seemed so dedicated, cuddled with him, kissed him and hugged him every time they came around, and you can tell he has a strong attachment to them as well.The place was also getting some nice upgrades, new paint as well as some work to the floors. We figured this was the reason why we didn’t see any little kids around…the smell of paint and thinner was pretty strong just about everywhere. It was sure great to see the pride they take on the place and the effort they are putting into it to make it a better for all the little ones.After a great three-hour visit we headed back to the hotel, rested for a while then went on to complete the required medical paperwork. We came back to the room and watch Gone Baby Gone, and at least for me, it was a mistake to do, especially since we are here to take our baby home. Chris crashed right after the movie and I am having a hard time going to sleep so I thought I would write for a while. I am still experiencing some jet-lag and my three hour nap this afternoon didn’t help me any.Tomorrow we will visit Alex again from 10:30 to 1:30, then meet with the coordinator in the afternoon to start preparing for court on Thursday. We are hoping to go out to dinner in the evening and have some real food instead of the granola and raisins we have lived on since we arrived here. We do get a breakfast buffet in the morning which Chris loves, but I just can’t have meat balls, cabbage and curds that early in the morning. I am sticking to their great coffee and bread, then granola for lunch and dinner. ..Yuk!!!!

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I am so happy for you and Chris. I am glad you got to see Alex and had a nice visit with him. It is so funny that you also brought him Cherrios. We were also told no and that they will throw up after eating them. I am not convinced but like you said, oh well. What hotel are you staying in? We stayed at the hotel Ural. What restaurants have you been to? Do you know where the market is? We went to the market quite a bit. It was a huge life saver for us. We live on Chocolate Milk and Blueberry Milk. It made up for the beets, pees and cabbage that the hotel had at their buffet. At breakfast, do you and Chris sit with the locals? Have they spoken to you at all? Did you learn any Russian? We learned a little bit and i found it to be helpful. When is your court date? What will you be doing for the 10 days after court? When do you break Alex out of baby jail? Blessings on you and Chris.

Congrats on your reunion with Alex. I'm sure your heart was racing with excitement and love!

We had a similar experience with an orphanage worker there too. Was the lady older, grey hair, on the tall side? She would bend our ear, and we would get out our translation book. She can't read with out her glasses, so we got no where. She was very nice though.

If you are staying at the same hotel as we did, the Hotel Ural, beware the dreaded breakfast buffet. It was great the first few days, but after three weeks it gets very very old. We would choke it down just because it was some of the best nutrition we got. We would usually go to the orphanage in the mornings, so it would have to hold us over until mid-afternoon.

I'm sure you have the lay of the land in Perm from your last trip, but if you need any tips on places to eat, or where to get things, let us know.